Bottle: Poured a deep hazy brown color ale with a small foamy head with light retention and no lacing. Aroma of spicy rye notes with some caramelized notes and some residual sugar notes. Taste is also dominated by some spicy rye notes with some heavy caramelized malt with light toffee notes and quite a bit of residual sugars. Body is quite full with medium to low carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Very well brewed with lots of extreme flavours and just enough balance for the residual sugars not too take over the whole mix. I still think that additional attenuation would be beneficial for this beer and most other Flossmoor beers.

Bomber of this one from claaark13. Really happy to get a shot at this beer, and stoked to get to try the regular and b.1 BA version as well. Cheers for the beers man!

From a bomber into a snifterBrewed with caraway seeds. My favorite seed.

APPEARANCE: Pours out viscous and yields a one finger, thicker looking, fluffy, off-white head with great retention. Hazy mahogany orange in color with medium levels of carbonation evident. Head fades to a full cap. A splotchy wisp remains and leaves some good lacing down the glass. Really nice looking.

SMELL: Bold nose with caramel, toffee, some red fuits, spicy rye and alcohol. Still some nice citrus hop aromas on top fo the toffee and butterscotch base. Really nice, but not quite as bold as the flavors.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. Very creamy smooth on the palate, goes down silky smooth and finishes lightly mouth-coating. Velvety smooth and creamy on the palate, with enough weight to support the flavors. Very good.

OVERALL: This is excellent. I wish I could have had this fresh as the citrus hop notes might have been more prevalent, but regardless, as it is now, this is a complex, smooth and very enjoyable barleywine. Very well balanced with a wonderful feel. One of the better beers I've had in a while. Cheers claaark for hooking me up with this one!

Reviewing the Hi-Fi Rye (Batch 1) from Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery out of Flossmoor, Illinois. This is the base beer of the Batch 1 Barrel Aged Hi-Fi Rye.

Score: 60

Batch 1 bottle served in a plastic taster cup and enjoyed on 07/28/12. Review is from iPhone notes I jotted down at my birthday bottle share.

Appearance: Pours a much more “cloudy” caramel color than either of the barrel-aged vintages. A lot more ruby transparencies are apparent. Pours a thin bubble tan layer than settles to a ring around the glass. Below average lacing, average retention. 3.5/5

Smell: Fruity sweet caramel malt and not much else. Faint brown sugar notes. It’s shocking how one-dimensional this beer is considering how complex the barrel-aged version of this vintage was. 3/5

Taste: Sweet and malty caramel water with some faint fruitiness. That’s it. No rye flavor, no dark fruit, no hoppiness. This beer has totally fallen off. Not undrinkable, but so is 312 – why bother? 2/5

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, low carbonation. Sweet and malty. 2.5/5

Overall: I cannot attest for the beer fresh, but the original non-barrel aged vintage has completely fallen off. I recommend skipping this one.

22oz wax topped bottle into a few glasses. Ruby with light mocha head. Rich retention and spotty lacing. Aroma is caraway, molasses, cocoa, caramel, and some green citrus. Taste is identical with added roast and spicy alcohol. Fairly sweet overall. Full bodied with some sharpness and plenty of alcohol warmth. Complex but the ABV interferes occasionally. Share this one.